Not even Calvin Oftana’s best game in a Philippines jersey was enough as Gilas fell just short in its comeback bid and bowed to Bahrain, 89-85, to start its 20th Asian Games title defense bid, Friday at the Aichi International Arena in Japan.
The seasoned wing fired 31 points in an apparent justification of his last-minute inclusion to the squad, but can only do so much as the horrendous stretch they got during the middle quarters proved so costly for the defending champs.
Coach Tim Cone’s men had already taken a 43-41 lead with 1:38 to go in the second quarter behind Justine Baltazar, but their counterparts from the Gulf responded with an 8-0 run to finish the half with the 49-43 advantage.
And the intermission hardly halted their rhythm, with Mosti Rashed and JaKarr Sampson continuing the onslaught to extend the lead to 64-48 with 5:31 left in the third as the Bahrainis put together a 23-5 assault in total since trailing.
In all fairness, the Filipino dribblers tried to fight back in the final frame and managed to cut the gap to just four with 11.2 seconds left after a Don Trollano trifecta, but the time was no longer enough to steal the ball game.
Nonetheless, Gilas’ rally not only made the final scoreline respectable but gave them a fighting chance in the seeding as point differential is crucial for the knockout stages of the men’s basketball wars, which will run until September 20.
